JAKARTA – Football is a passion. Inter is a passion. And both were nurtured by Erick Thohir long before he become Nerazzurri president. Now he experiences those passions in the first person every day and they have changed his life.
You see all this from the way the president behaves when he meets fans, when he's asked for a photo and when he talks about his passion – Inter. Thohir has a smile for everyone, and it's as genuine as they come.
"When I'm travelling around the world, in Indonesia, in Italy and in other countries, people often stop me for a photo or a quick chat. Of course I get recognised more easily nowadays but it hasn't changed the way I am. I might be the president of Inter – one of the biggest clubs in the world – but I'm still the same person, just with even more passion. It's something I'm proud of and which I never would have imagined at the start, but it happened and I'm glad. I'm glad to be a part of something I believe in, something I enjoy and something I'll always give 100% for."
Inter is a passion but it's also a responsibility, "to do things well and to do what's best for the club. I feel responsible for the club's future and I'll do everything in my power to make it even more famous around the world and to develop the brand further," Thohir explained during the course of a long chat with Nerazzurri fans in Indonesia, the country with the third largest number of Interisti in the world.
And just like the fans in Indonesia, in Italy and the rest of the world, the president is looking forward to Inter's future. Seeing the club get back to where it belongs and continuing its glorious history. "It's time for Inter to return to the position it deserves, among the top ten clubs in the world. We must be competing again, we need to increase our revenue and engage fans all over the world with our passion. Now that we're back in Europe we're working to make sure we stay there and can earn ourselves Champions League football again. We've put together a good mix of youth and experience, which is what we wanted. We're satisfied with what we've done so far and the excellent work carried out by the coach. We're building for the future."
A future with even more passion across the globe, because we are brothers of the world. Always have been and always will. Because when your passion is black and blue it can overcome any distance or boundary, reaching millions of people – over 13 million in Indonesia and more than 260 million around the world.
